Percentage of 3- to 5-year-olds not yet enrolled in kindergarten who have participated in home literacy activities with a family member, by type of activity and selected child and family characteristics: 1993, 2001, and 2005

Selected child and family characteristic

Children (in thousands)

Percent participating three or more times in the past week

Visited a library2

1993

2001

2005

Read to by family member

Told a story by family member

Taught letters, words, or numbers

Did arts and crafts

1993

2001

2005

19931

2001

2005

1993

2001

2005

1993

2001

2005

1993

2001

2005

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

Total

8,579

(42.0)

8,551

(11.0)

9,066

(9.0)

78

(0.7)

84

(0.8)

86

(0.7)

43

(0.9)

54

(0.9)

54

(1.0)

58

(0.8)

74

(1.0)

77

(0.9)

33

(0.8)

46

(1.0)

43

(1.2)

38

(1.0)

36

(1.1)

42

(1.2)

Age

3 years old

3,889

(8.2)

3,795

(91.4)

4,070

(93.0)

79

(1.0)

84

(1.1)

86

(1.2)

46

(1.3)

54

(1.4)

54

(1.9)

57

(1.3)

71

(1.7)

75

(1.2)

34

(1.3)

43

(1.7)

41

(1.8)

34

(1.3)

35

(1.9)

40

(1.7)

4 years old

3,713

(15.7)

3,861

(89.0)

3,873

(92.0)

78

(1.0)

85

(1.2)

85

(1.3)

41

(1.5)

55

(1.4)

53

(1.6)

58

(1.1)

77

(1.3)

77

(1.5)

33

(1.1)

48

(1.5)

44

(1.9)

41

(1.5)

37

(1.4)

44

(2.0)

5 years old

976

(39.4)

896

(47.0)

1,123

(67.3)

76

(2.1)

81

(2.7)

86

(2.2)

36

(2.7)

52

(3.0)

55

(3.4)

58

(2.8)

75

(2.5)

80

(2.3)

33

(2.3)

44

(2.7)

47

(3.5)

38

(2.7)

37

(3.4)

46

(4.0)

Sex

Male

4,453

(60.2)

4,292

(79.9)

4,707

(99.2)

77

(1.0)

82

(1.2)

85

(1.2)

43

(1.3)

53

(1.4)

53

(1.8)

58

(1.0)

73

(1.6)

75

(1.4)

31

(1.0)

41

(1.3)

39

(1.6)

38

(1.5)

35

(1.4)

44

(1.6)

Female

4,126

(65.0)

4,260

(79.6)

4,359

(99.6)

79

(1.0)

86

(1.0)

87

(0.9)

43

(1.2)

55

(1.3)

54

(1.6)

58

(1.4)

76

(1.3)

78

(1.2)

36

(1.2)

50

(1.5)

47

(1.6)

38

(1.1)

37

(1.6)

41

(1.7)

Race/ethnicity

White

5,902

(63.6)

5,313

(68.0)

5,177

(80.2)

85

(0.7)

89

(0.8)

92

(0.7)

44

(1.0)

58

(1.1)

53

(1.5)

58

(0.9)

75

(1.2)

76

(1.4)

36

(1.0)

49

(1.2)

47

(1.5)

42

(1.3)

39

(1.3)

45

(1.6)

Black

1,271

(44.9)

1,251

(55.1)

1,233

(57.1)

66

(2.4)

77

(2.6)

78

(3.1)

39

(2.7)

51

(2.9)

54

(3.6)

63

(2.7)

78

(3.4)

81

(3.1)

28

(2.4)

34

(3.3)

39

(4.0)

29

(2.6)

31

(2.6)

44

(3.8)

Hispanic

1,026

(34.1)

1,506

(43.5)

1,822

(50.0)

58

(2.4)

71

(1.9)

72

(2.0)

38

(2.2)

42

(2.1)

50

(2.4)

54

(1.9)

68

(2.0)

74

(2.2)

25

(2.1)

42

(2.2)

34

(2.5)

26

(1.6)

30

(2.0)

32

(2.1)

Other

381

(33.5)

482

(38.3)

834

(54.3)

73

(3.8)

87

(2.7)

88

(1.8)

50

(5.3)

60

(4.0)

64

(3.1)

59

(3.9)

78

(3.6)

82

(3.0)

32

(3.3)

46

(3.8)

47

(3.9)

43

(4.6)

38

(4.6)

48

(3.3)

Mother's highest level of education3

Less than high school

1,036

(50.1)

996

(54.5)

886

(59.4)

60

(2.7)

69

(2.8)

64

(3.3)

37

(3.2)

43

(3.7)

39

(3.5)

56

(2.7)

67

(3.0)

70

(3.0)

25

(2.2)

30

(2.9)

29

(3.2)

22

(2.7)

21

(2.4)

23

(3.2)

High school/GED

3,268

(79.6)

2,712

(89.0)

2,687

(117.9)

75

(1.3)

81

(1.6)

82

(1.6)

41

(1.3)

53

(1.7)

51

(2.4)

56

(1.3)

73

(1.5)

78

(1.9)

30

(1.2)

43

(1.7)

39

(2.3)

30

(1.8)

30

(1.9)

33

(2.5)

Vocational/technical or some college

2,291

(69.1)

1,833

(73.9)

1,782

(81.9)

83

(1.4)

85

(1.8)

88

(1.4)

45

(1.9)

53

(2.5)

56

(2.8)

60

(1.7)

76

(1.8)

78

(2.0)

37

(1.8)

47

(2.3)

45

(2.4)

44

(2.2)

38

(2.2)

47

(3.2)

Associate's degree

332

(25.7)

573

(40.9)

680

(44.1)

84

(3.1)

89

(2.5)

90

(2.3)

44

(4.3)

56

(3.2)

60

(3.6)

63

(3.9)

78

(3.5)

82

(2.8)

39

(4.1)

46

(3.8)

50

(3.5)

38

(4.1)

42

(4.3)

42

(4.1)

Bachelor's degree

912

(42.3)

1,553

(68.4)

1,949

(73.9)

90

(1.6)

93

(1.2)

93

(1.3)

48

(2.4)

58

(2.2)

57

(2.3)

57

(2.2)

76

(1.9)

75

(2.4)

37

(2.4)

53

(2.7)

47

(2.5)

55

(2.2)

46

(2.4)

53

(2.1)

Graduate/professional degree

569

(37.7)

685

(45.7)

879

(50.8)

90

(2.1)

96

(1.1)

94

(1.6)

50

(3.2)

67

(3.6)

63

(2.9)

60

(2.7)

80

(2.8)

75

(2.6)

42

(3.0)

55

(3.8)

48

(3.1)

59

(3.5)

55

(3.8)

58

(3.1)

Mother's employment status3

Employed

4,486

(77.3)

5,148

(84.2)

5,277

(111.1)

79

(1.0)

86

(1.0)

86

(1.0)

44

(1.0)

54

(1.3)

53

(1.5)

57

(1.2)

73

(1.3)

76

(1.3)

33

(1.1)

45

(1.5)

42

(1.7)

39

(1.2)

36

(1.2)

43

(1.6)

Unemployed

594

(45.0)

396

(36.9)

543

(63.7)

71

(3.4)

77

(5.0)

89

(2.6)

43

(2.9)

56

(5.6)

58

(6.8)

66

(3.7)

73

(5.0)

81

(3.6)

33

(3.9)

38

(5.2)

39

(5.1)

37

(3.7)

37

(4.8)

39

(4.5)

Not in labor force

3,328

(72.9)

2,809

(73.3)

3,043

(96.5)

79

(1.3)

83

(1.4)

85

(1.3)

43

(1.5)

54

(2.0)

55

(2.0)

58

(1.5)

76

(1.7)

76

(1.6)

34

(1.4)

48

(2.0)

45

(1.8)

37

(1.4)

38

(1.9)

43

(1.9)

Number of parents in the household

Two parents

6,226

(78.1)

6,416

(75.1)

7,000

(68.7)

81

(0.7)

87

(0.8)

87

(0.8)

44

(1.0)

55

(1.0)

53

(1.1)

57

(0.9)

74

(1.1)

76

(1.1)

35

(0.9)

48

(1.1)

44

(1.2)

41

(1.2)

38

(1.2)

43

(1.3)

None or one parent

2,353

(66.5)

2,135

(75.1)

2,066

(69.3)

71

(1.7)

76

(2.0)

83

(1.7)

41

(2.0)

51

(2.2)

55

(2.6)

59

(2.1)

73

(2.2)

78

(2.0)

30

(1.9)

39

(2.3)

41

(2.6)

30

(1.7)

30

(2.1)

40

(2.6)

Poverty status4

Above poverty threshold

6,323

(62.1)

6,620

(61.6)

7,095

(62.9)

82

(0.7)

87

(0.8)

88

(0.8)

44

(0.9)

55

(0.9)

55

(1.1)

57

(0.8)

75

(1.1)

77

(1.1)

36

(0.9)

47

(1.0)

45

(1.4)

41

(1.2)

39

(1.2)

44

(1.3)

At or below poverty threshold

2,256

(56.6)

1,931

(62.1)

1,971

(63.7)

67

(1.6)

74

(2.3)

78

(1.9)

39

(1.8)

51

(2.7)

51

(2.7)

60

(2.0)

72

(2.4)

76

(2.1)

27

(1.9)

40

(2.4)

38

(2.8)

28

(2.0)

27

(2.2)

36

(2.5)

1 In 1993, respondents were asked about reading frequency in one of two versions. The percentages presented in the table are for all of the respondents who answered three or more times on either version of the questions.2 Refers to visiting a library at least once in the past month. 3 Excludes children living in households with no mother or female guardian present. 4 Poverty status was determined by household income and number of persons in household.
NOTE: Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard errors appear in parentheses.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, School Readiness Survey and Early Child-hood Program Participation Survey of the National Household Education Surveys Program (SR-NHES:1993 and ECPP-NHES:2001 and 2005). (This table was prepared October 2006.)